UAlbany Student Selected for Newman Fellowship for Third Consecutive Year

Junior Troy Serao delivers remarks from a UAlbany podium.

Junior Troy Serao has been selected as a recipient of the Newman Civic Fellowship for the 2026-2027 cycle.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 15, 2026) — University at Albany students consistently work hard to make an impact on their community — which junior Troy Serao is now being recognized for doing.

Serao has been selected as a recipient of the Newman Civic Fellowship for the 2026-2027 cycle. This is the third consecutive year that a UAlbany student has been selected for this honor.

University presidents nominate Newman Civic Fellows, and after a rigorous, competitive selection process, they are chosen to represent their campuses among peers across the state. Fellows are selected based on their dedication to community and their impact in the local area.

Junior Troy Serao shakes hands with a fellow classmate in front of a UAlbany podium. — Serao is a member of the UAlbany Student Association and a volunteer for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

Serao is a political science major at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy with a concentration in public law.

When asked if he would be interested in representing the University, Serao immediately accepted.

"I've always been the type of person who jumps at every opportunity," Serao said. "I'm honored, I'm humbled, and a little nervous. It's a lot to represent 18,000 students."

Serao is a member of the UAlbany Student Association and a volunteer for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants' Albany field office, where he's helped local residents work toward citizenship.

"I was tutoring a woman last year, and we were working together for probably about four months, and then she took her exam," said Serao, reflecting on his impact in the community. "She passed, and it was just this really, really amazing thing. I got to go and see her actually get her citizenship."

Fellows are connected to a network of young leaders from universities across the nation and are invited to an annual conference, where they network with peers, learn from mentors in a variety of fields, and attend workshops and keynote events to build skills they can bring back to their communities.

Previous students have been able to take what they learn from fellow community leaders and use those ideas to help their local communities.

Former fellow Amaya Neuwirth, who also served as president of the UAlbany’s Middle Earth program, used her fellowship experience to offer a student perspective to the launch of the University’s Thrive initiative.

Thrive UAlbany brings together health, career readiness, financial wellness and belonging to help students make the most of their college experience.

"I'm excited to meet new people and get new ideas and bring them back to UAlbany," Serao said. "In speaking with the past fellow from UAlbany, she was telling me how she was able to bring back so many new ideas here and implement them, and a lot of her ideas ended up in the Thrive space. If I could make half that impact, that would be amazing."

For Serao, impact is all about the people. They're why he keeps coming back to help the community.

"You meet some of the best people through it and really get to see the direct impact of your work," Serao said. "I think young people should just volunteer as much as possible, get involved as much as possible, because then they really get to see that impact and leave a positive mark on the world."

Recipients of the Newman Civic Fellowship can also apply for a $1,500 grant to support community assistance programs and build new initiatives.